Ooops...something else we forgot to think about

"On Sept. 9, 2002, with U.S. bases being readied in Kuwait, Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei summoned his war council in Tehran. According to Iranian sources, the Supreme National Security Council concluded, "It is necessary to adopt an active policy in order to prevent long-term and short-term dangers to Iran."...

Before the March 2003 invasion, military sources say, elements of up to 46 Iranian infantry and missile brigades moved to buttress the border. Positioned among them were units of the Badr Corps, formed in the 1980s as the armed wing of the Iraqi Shi'ite group known by its acronym SCIRI, now the most powerful party in Iraq. Divided into northern, central and southern axes, Badr's mission was to pour into Iraq in the chaos of the invasion to seize towns and government offices, filling the vacuum left by the collapse of Saddam's regime. As many as 12,000 armed men, along with Iranian intelligence officers, swarmed into Iraq.

The story is about the growing presence and influence of Islamist Iran, in defeating both the US and the secular society of Iraq. Iran infiltrated early and often. Time says it has documents showing that Iran paid the salaries of "at least 11,740 members of the Badr Corps" last year, and probably still has them on the payroll. The Iranian plan didn't just cover military issues: "Businesses, front companies, religious groups, NGOs and aid for schools and universities are all part of the mix." And the Iranians are still working hard at winning this war. Time reports that they're bringing in more sophisticated weapons, more trained insurgents, and more theocratic policies."